I'm happy! What a progress. From the sole reason we are loosing to a guy who is steady day in and day out. Beleive me a couple of years from now Kindl will be as good as Ericsson now.

Sweet. This dude was brought here for one reason, to punch people in the head - every other thing that he can do, other Wings can do better. I like that we have a head-puncher. The league has other, better head-punchers, but this one is ours. Better than nothing. Good work, Kenny!

why is my first reaction in the last 5 years every time the Wings sign somebody.....that they overpaid. I don't claim to be an expert i just think that in general we overpay for middle talent yet can't land big talent

Firstly, this isn't an over-payment, this is dead on the market value for a 29 year old top-4 defenceman who is a pending UFA.

Good for Ericsson, he always had the tools, it was just a matter of putting it all together. His painful performance in the 2010 playoffs seems like a lifetime away.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

This is DK money not Ericsson.. DK is way better and should and will be top 2 D on Wings starting next year if not sooner. Bad signing.

Lol there's always one. Ericsson has earned this contract, and he deserves every penny of it, he has come a long long way over the past couple years and is now looking quite comfortable in a top 2 role. Dk will probably get the same contract for 4 years then a big raise.

This is DK money not Ericsson.. DK is way better and should and will be top 2 D on Wings starting next year if not sooner. Bad signing.

Um Kronwall and Stuart got paid how much as second pairing? Do you really think your ever going to get a solid second pairing for like 2.5 or something? Ericsson could be a number 2 but even if DK becomes our number one what a great number 3 we have.

Have no idea what to expect DD to get. He hasn't played a full season but he is easily a top 3 defensemen on this team with a lot of upside.

If we're lucky we can get him to a relatively cheap 4-6 year deal, one of those that seem like total steals at the end of them.

2 years too many but other than that, I like the deal.

Not so sure. He may very likely be hitting his prime right now. The next 2-4 years could be the best hockey he plays in his career. Making it a 4 year deal could mean we have to give him a raise just as he's starting to decline. Ideally you don't want to have to re-sign a player right when he's at his career peak, if you can avoid it.

Um Kronwall and Stuart got paid how much as second pairing? Do you really think your ever going to get a solid second pairing for like 2.5 or something? Ericsson could be a number 2 but even if DK becomes our number one what a great number 3 we have.

This is kinda what I'm thinking.

Ericsson has become a solid #2 for us. Should he get bumped down the depth chart (maybe DeKeyser surpasses him, maybe we add someone), he'll be a really solid #3 or #4.

My issue with our defense is that we don't really have a top four. We have Kronwall, Ericsson, DeKeyser...and a big black hole. Hopefully Smith and Kindl can raise their games sooner rather than later. Even Kevin Weekes mentioned it - we don't have a great puck-moving defenseman, and it's hurting us. That hole has to be filled if we want to seriously compete for the Cup.

But I wouldn't change anything about Ericsson right now. He's become one of my favorite active Red Wings. I guess he could be a little meaner, more physical - but it's pretty clear by now that that's just not his style. Can't force things like that. Gotta play your game, be yourself.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Ericsson has become a solid #2 for us. Should he get bumped down the depth chart (maybe DeKeyser surpasses him, maybe we add someone), he'll be a really solid #3 or #4.

My issue with our defense is that we don't really have a top four. We have Kronwall, Ericsson, DeKeyser...and a big black hole. Hopefully Smith and Kindl can raise their games sooner rather than later. Even Kevin Weekes mentioned it - we don't have a great puck-moving defenseman, and it's hurting us. That hole has to be filled if we want to seriously compete for the Cup.

But I wouldn't change anything about Ericsson right now. He's become one of my favorite active Red Wings. I guess he could be a little meaner, more physical - but it's pretty clear by now that that's just not his style. Can't force things like that. Gotta play your game, be yourself.

Yes that's absolutely the issue with our defense and we desperately need someone to grab that #4 spot. Kindl looked like he might do it last year, but he has regressed. Smith started out horribly, but has actually looked great the last couple of games and one just has to hope he can keep it up and improve step by step on the defensive side. When everyone's healthy I say go with Dekeyser-Smith as 2nd pair. If Smith goes back to being awful I'll keep lobbying for Almqvist being a Red Wing sooner rather than later just because we need that PMD.

If we're lucky we can get him to a relatively cheap 4-6 year deal, one of those that seem like total steals at the end of them.

Not so sure. He may very likely be hitting his prime right now. The next 2-4 years could be the best hockey he plays in his career. Making it a 4 year deal could mean we have to give him a raise just as he's starting to decline. Ideally you don't want to have to re-sign a player right when he's at his career peak, if you can avoid it.

I think you're right on the money (pun intended) with both points.

Ideally, we give DeKeyser what I guess you could call an extended bridge contract. One that, as you said, seems like a total steal by the expiry.

And I do think it was very important to sign Ericsson for six years, for the reason you mentioned. Gotta consider two things: 1) defensemen generally take a longer time to develop and peak, and 2) he made the switch to defense at a relatively late stage. Point being, he's probably heading into his prime right now. I'd expect the peak to last for 3-5 seasons before he starts declining, and generally you don't like to give raises to declining players.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

We still need a REAL #1 guy back there though...Ericsson nor Kronwall is it. DeKeyser will be it in a few years, yet needs to stay healthy, so far he has been injury prone...

Who? There are maybe 10 or 12 defencemen in the NHL who are clearly better than Kronwall. Answers on a postcard please as to how to obtain Weber, Chara, Suter, Subban, Keith, Karlsson, Letang or Doughty.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

Who? There are maybe 10 or 12 defencemen in the NHL who are clearly better than Kronwall. Answers on a postcard please as to how to obtain Weber, Chara, Suter, Subban, Keith, Karlsson, Letang or Doughty.

Yep, this is the harsh reality.

I actually think Kronner has made a very smooth transition into the #1 spot. He still makes those stupid, lazy mistakes now and then, but, for the most part, he's owning his role. He's become one of the best defensemen in the league, and by all accounts he's a great veteran leader. We're very lucky to have him.

I'm perfectly happy with Ericsson and DeKeyser. It's just - to beat the dead horse - that hole in the top four. In a perfect world (to beat another dead horse here), we make a strong addition in the summer through free agency. There are some very appealing names on the list, though I expect pretty much all of them to re-sign.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

this looks like a good deal now, and it'll look like a great deal towards the end of the contract.

I like the progress E has continued to show..

no complaints about this contract

YES!!! Love the opening to this post! With all the Kenny bashing that has gone on this season It's nice to hear another "believer". Finding "diamonds in the rough", "over-ripening" and "patience with prospects" pays off once again. Major kudos to scouting and management, once again. LGW!!!

I'm fairly certain that if someone went back through my posting history, they'd see where I posted that Ericsson's last (current) contract extension was an overpayment. This is one of those times where I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.

Very pleased with this signing. After many stumbles along the way, Big E has developed into a very solid and dependable defenseman. $4.25m is actually less than I thought he would sign for, so I don't have much to complain about. I could try to complain about the length of the contract, but since that's one of the things that pushed his AAV down, that complaint wouldn't really have much to stand on.